Pac-Man Ghost Hunters

The Pac-Man Dossier was a fun look at the game and how it is advantageous to familiarize oneself with how each ghost - Blinky, Pinky, Inky, and Clyde - behaves rather than memorizing patterns. First off, I never knew that the game's developer, Toru Iwatani, took inspiration from "a children's story about a creature that protected children from monsters by eating them."

Back to winning Pac-Man or at least obtaining the perfect score of 3,333,360, the player needs to understand some core ghost behavior and game techniques. 1. Ghosts have three main modes: scatter, chase, and repeat. 2. Ghosts move slower than Pac-Man until the 21st level. 3. Cornering is a vital tool for survival in higher levels. 4. Ghosts only care about the tile their target occupies. 5. Ghosts are always thinking one step into the future. 6. Every level beyond the 21st is identical. 7. Level 256 provides a bonus "split-screen surprise." 8. The only way to beat level 256 is to have a "rack test" feature on the machine.

I do not know the above will actually help my next Pac-Man playing adventure, but it will be fun to try.

2 Comments

Jeremy Barrick said:

There is definetly a pattern to the game. I can remember books that were published on how to beat the game. That article was really fun to read. You have to give PacMan credit. It has been around for a long time. It withstood all other games and is still enjoying success on some levels today.